Railway-switch.



H. REED.

RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLIOATION I'ILED AUG. 12, 1908'.

Patented Mar; 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEY H. REED. RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1908.

. 91 4 976. Patented Mar; 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

WITNESSES ATTORNEY view of the line X-X of Fig. 6.

HOWARD REED, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 9, 1909.

Application filed August 12, 1908. Serial No. 4%,097.

T 0 all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, HOWARD REED, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inRailway- Switches, of which the following is a specification.

Iviy invention relates to new and useful improvements in railwayswitches, of the type in which the switch point is operated by meansmounted on a car, and. has for its object to provide an exceedinglysimple and effective device of this character which will becomparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

With these ends in view this invention consists in the details ofconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and thenspecifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains may understand how to make and use the same I will describeits construction in detail referring by character to the accompanyingdrawing forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is aview in elevation of my improved switch operating mechanism, the trackand switch point being shown in section. Fig. 2, a view in elevation ofone of the operating rods. Fig. 3, a similar view taken at right anglesof 2. Fig. 4, a view in elevation of the curved or operating levers withwhich the operating rods are dapted to come in contact. Fig. 5, ahorizontal, sectional view of the casing in which the operating rods areadapted to slide. Fig. 6, is a slightly modified form of switchoperating mechanism in which the means that is on the car extends to theside instead of. the center of the car. Fig. 7, is a sectional Fig. 8 isa View of one of the brackets which holds the operating rod. 9, a viewof another one of the brackets, and, Fig. 10, a view of another brackeIn carrying out my invention as here cmbodied, A represents the rails ofthe track, and B the switch point. Placed between the track rails andpivoted to the switch point are one end of the rods C and D, and pivotedto the opposite end of the rod C is one end of the bell crank lever Ewhich is pivoted at F, and fastened to the opposite end of this bellcrank lever E is the plate E to which is attached one end of the spiralspring I, the opposite end resting against the plate J, which is securedto the rod G. To the upper end of the rod G is pivoted the curved leverK, one end of which is pivoted at L, the other end being free to move upand down within certain limits. One end of the rod D is pivoted to oneend of the bell crank lever M, which is pivoted at N, and to theopposite end of this bell crank lever is secured the plate N to which isattached the lower end of the spiral spring P, and the opposite endrests against the plate Q, similar to the plate J which is secured tothe red O.

Pivoted to the red O is the curved lever B, one end of said curved leverbeing pivoted at L, the other end being free to move up or down, thesame as the curved lever K. These parts may be incased in the casingplaced beneath the surface, and over this may be placed a top withopenings therein, which will allow the curved levers to extend up abovethe same. The curved levers K and R are the ones which are engaged by amember carried by the car, and actuated thereby to throw the switch. Thetwo actuating rods S and T are conveniently mounted in the car and arecapable of moving up and down, so that when one rod is lowered andengages with one of the curved levers the switch point would be shiftedin one direc tion, and when the other red is lowered it will engage withthe other curved lever, and will therefore shift the switch point in thereverse direction. These rods S and T extend downward through the floorof the platform of the car and are held securely to the car and preventit from moving from one side to the other, and by the guides which areheld stationary by the braces U which extend downward from beneath thecar. In the side of these rods S and T in proximity to their upper endsare formed the notches V, and on the floor of the car are placed boltsIV which engage with these notches for holding the rods up or down asthe case may be.

In practice when the car operates a switch the proper actuating rod S orT is let down into engagement with one of the curved levers K or R, andas the actuating rod comes in engagement with one of the curved leversit will depress, which will cause the lower end of one of the bell cranklevers to move downward and this will cause the opposite end to move toone side, and through the medium of one of the rods 0 or D will open orclose the switch, and when this switch is opened it will cause the otherbell crank lever to move in the opposite direction, causing the curvedlever to which it is attached to move upward, which will be in a setposition for the next car.

In my modified form I have a switch actuating mechanism close beside thetrack instead of in the center thereof, and for operating these Iprovide an angular rod S on which is formed a square portion S adaptedto slide within the square bracket S On the end of the rod S which isfastened to the car are formed the extensions S which are adapted toengage with the brackets S for securely holding the same in position. Trepresent brackets having circular openings T in which the rod S isadapted to rest, and this is rounded so that when the square portion Sis disengaged from the square bracket S the outer end of the rod may bedrawn u ward so that it will engage with either of tl ie curved levers.In practice by moving the rod S to one side or the other it will causeit to engage with one of the curved levers which will cause the switchto be operated as before described.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details ofconstruction here shown as these may be varied without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, is-

1. In a switch operating mechanism, in combination with a switch point,rods pivoted thereto, bell crank levers pivoted to said rods, platesattached to said bell crank levers, curved levers one end of which arepivoted, vertical rods fastened to the curved levers, plates secured tothe ends of these Vertical rods, spiral springs one end of which restsagainst the first named plates, the opposite end against the last namedplates, ac-

tuating rods carried by the car and being moved practically independentof one another so as to engage with the curved levers, the upper end ofsaid rods having notches formed therein, bolts fastened to the caradapted to engage with said noches, guides in which actuating rods areadapted to slide, and braces for stationarily holding said guides inposition, as shown and described.

2. In a switch point operating mechanism,

in combination with a switch point, rods pivoted thereto, bell cranklevers pivoted to said rods, plates secured to said bell crank levers,curved levers one end of which are pivoted, and to these are pivotedvertical rods, plates attached to the lower ends of these rods, spiralsprings one end of which are adapted to rest against the first namedplates, the opposite ends against the last named plates, an angular rodcarried by the car and being movable so as to engage with one or theother of the curved levers, and means for holding said rod in differentpositions, as shown and described.

3. In a switch point operating mechanism, in combination with a switchpoint, rods pivoted thereto, bell crank levers pivoted to said rods,plates attached to the bell crank levers, curved levers, one end ofwhich are pivoted, vertical rods pivoted to said curved levers, platesfastened to the lower ends of said vertical rods,'spiral springs one endof which are adapted to rest against the first named plates, theopposite end against the last named plates, and means carried by the caractuating the switch point, as specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HOWARD REED.

Witnesses:

FANNIE P. LEES, WM. CLEMENT LEES.

